(sûr′tn-tē) The quality of being established as true; the absence of doubt.
Doubting Thomas.
What an unfortunate moniker.
Perhaps he was out buying some gefilte fish while the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples? Thomas preached the gospel alongside his best mates. He saw many healed and evil spirits flee from others – just like the rabbi said! But then Jesus, his friend and leader, was brutally crucified, shattering Thomas’ hopes and dreams. Then, his fellow disciples claimed “we have seen the Lord,” but what was Thomas to make of this? How often do people rise from the dead?
Why did Thomas not trust his mates when they made their claim? Had they not worked together for the sake of the gospel?
I believe that Thomas was your average sceptic. He simply demanded evidence upon which to base his trust.
I was that person.
One of my best clients asked me to run a workshop to assess the risks of highly uncertain events. The relative risks of these events can only be quantified with sound logic and high quality likelihood data.
The big problem with rating the relative risk of rare, critical events is more often the uncertainty in likelihood, than consequence.
According to Scotland Yard data, the chance of two people on earth having identical fingerprints is estimated at 1 in 64 billion. Based on those odds, it would take more than “a million years for two people with identical fingerprints to appear by chance.” Identical twins have different sets of fingerprints. Even two clones do not have the same fingerprints.
Now, the likelihood of one healthy high school student dying of sudden cardiac arrest is 1 in 200,000 without any other causal factors. The likelihood of two healthy high school students dying of sudden cardiac arrest on the same day is therefore, 1 in 200,000 squared or 1 in 40 Billion.
This may occur once every 625,000 years.
Well, this DID occur on January 8th, 2022.
Cameran Wheatley, a 17-year-old senior at Bremen High School, collapsed during a game with Chicago High School on February 8, 2022. Meanwhile, in East Texas, Devonte Mumphrey collapsed on the same day and died from a sudden cardiac arrest. Devonte, 15, was a basketball standout who was nominated for Mr. Texas Basketball Player of the Week after scoring 45 points in a single game in January.
The medical industrial establishment assured us that the vaccines were safe and effective.
Why would parents not trust Big Pharma when they made their claim? Had Big Pharma not worked with the FDA for the sake of grift?
Perhaps parents didn’t know that before COVID, Big Pharma had paid out billions in fraud claim settlements. This simply seemed to be the cost of doing business. Why would things be different now?
About two thousand years ago, a mysterious fellow joined two of Jesus’ disciples as they walked the seven-mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
This account appears in chapter 24 of Luke’s gospel. It occurs just after Christ’s crucifixion, the same day some women went to Jesus’ tomb. The stone was rolled away and his body was nowhere to be found.
When the apostles were told that two angels had spoken to the women, reminding them of Christ’s resurrection, the apostles did not believe them.
Later that same day, two men were walking together to Emmaus. They were discussing the events of the past few days and were troubled. Luke’s account tells us their faces were “downcast.”
The mystery traveller was actually Jesus of Nazareth. During his journey along the Emmaus Road, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. What did he say to these two that dispelled all doubt about his claims of being the Son of God?
Old Testament writings contain approx. 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah. They were written between about 1,050 and 500 BC. Dr. Peter Stoner, author of Science Speaks, takes just eight of these 300 prophecies and calculates the probability of them being fulfilled by one person as being 1 in 1028 or 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. He lived a perfect life, was crucified for the sins of humanity and was raised from the dead. That is a certainty.
When confronted with the evidence, Thomas, exclaimed:
“My Lord and my God.”
I was your average sceptic. I simply demanded evidence upon which to base my trust.
Just like Thomas, I found that evidence – Certainty in Christ.
This Easter, I trust that you will too.